The Making of Riven (1998) - Remastered

Learn more here! gamehistory.org/making-of-riven/
This is a remastered version of The Making of Riven, a 1998 documentary about the development of Riven: The Sequel to Myst, co-produced by the Stanford Documentary Group and Myst series developer Cyan.
This video was digitized from the original master tape in the archives at Cyan and is a significant jump in quality over the heavily compressed version that was included with the game. This is part of our project to digitize the video archives at Cyan, which includes over 100 hours of footage from behind-the-scenes at Cyan and the filming of Riven.
Thanks to Moving Image Preservation of Puget Sound for digitizing this tape!

[@jordan2735]

I’m 32 years old and had no idea I drive by their studio nearly every day when I as in high school lmao.

[@hashtagPoundsign]

This is the video that got me into cgi, later coding, and game development.

[@purefoldnz3070]

these guys were way ahead of the curve and its great to see Riven finally coming back all these years later to realize its full potential.

[@seanwade8188]

This restoration is beautiful. Really brings life back to the old movie

[@AndrewEwzzyRayburn]

Love seeing a properly deinterlaced video at 60fps

[@BigHushAffiliate]

Thank you for preserving history 🙏🏻

[@Divector8]

The scribe rotating in the mag-lev was so well done. Bravo.

[@EricGranata]

So good. I wish we saw more video games combine CG and live action like this.

[@LiquidTurbo]

Thank you for uploading and remastering this really important video regarding the history of Riven!!

[@leemiller8258]

Really surprised how young Richard was. I had assumed that he was an older, experienced professional brought in to provide depth. The fact that he was the same age as everyone else makes Riven even more amazing.

[@Jameserton]

2:06 The point-and-click movement towards the door is genius. Thanks for sharing the restored footage.

[@Jayy997]

These are very talented people working together at their prime to bring us something incredible

[@EricDolecki]

I had some brief correspondence with Tony after Riven’s release. This games and its aesthetic has forever positively impacted my life. I would gladly live in a Riven-inspired home if such a thing were available. Looking forward to the remake.

[@thatdesignfeelgaming]

Great little documentary! The thing that is most wild in this documentary to me is the effort they went to to have that actor rotating around in the blue screen, when they could have just had the platform on the other side of the train, and not had it rotate, as the door would be on the correct side. He could have just got into the side of the train (already facing away from you) and sped off I just finished my blind Riven playthrough and it's such an amazing game! Really looking forward to Myst 3 next and seeing how more of this lore shakes out!

[@epicfox567]

Loving your playthroughs and also I never thought about that about the Mag Lev. They really could have taken the easy way out.

[@Jansenbaker]

As someone that has wanted to play this but hasn't been able to, this is an incredible step up from Myst. Going from very limited movement and sparse video, to this much stuff going on, is like another world.

[@arcluna]

I loved watching this on DVD version of Riven. Really glad to see it given the 4K treatment.

[@MoJay12]

Still my all time favourite game. For decades now ...

[@PipBin]

I watched this video so many times. The remaster is great! Ill have to go play Riven again!

[@rookiesru7271]

Thank you! This is wonderful!

[@stevenray8737]

Its great to have any videos on the Myst series but this was a real treat with the remaster. Cheers!

[@TrevorNWhite]

Played this quite a bit as a kid! Never got far, but I was always captivated by the world

[@AaronGwynaireGameDev]

Have watched this so many times, having had it running in the background during game dev sessions for some great creativity energy boosts :P Lovely to see it remastered! :)

[@amarug]

One of the absolute masterpieces of the computer age. From graphics, to music, to world design, atmosphere, story telling, puzzles. I can't even find words to express how much I love this game. I played it again as an adult, thinking I might be bored and cringe at it. Far from it, I was sucked into the world and when I finished it, I was a puddle of tears, all the bottled up memories of my childhood and family that were linked with it. Thank you so much for creating such a masterpiece. Still puzzles me that Cyan didn't end up becoming one of the biggest game studios in the world. I guess it's not just skill and vision...

[@Vern180]

It is the best Video Game Ever created and will never be bettered. I completely lost myself in Riven years ago on playstation with the little grey mouse on a magazine on an old shaky table sitting on the side of my bed and it was the best gaming experience of my life. I now have all the latest PC gaming equipment and set up and I still can't better it... Cyan are Remaking Riven now in full 3D and VR on unreal 5 engine released later this year, but im not convinced as Myst 21 remake completely ruined the feel of the game. But I would like to walk around Riven in VR. we'll see

[@DHellfridge]

I never really got into the Myst series, but I find everything new I learn about the series fascinating. Great documentary!

[@EricGranata]

These games were so rad (1 and 2 especially). Loved the lore and the novels.

[@Kabopple]

Great video, glad it could be saved and remastered!

[@gamingnerd]

I still have both this and the making of Myst on the original CD-ROMs! They really take me back!

[@moretar]

Great work with the remastering

[@gharren]

Amazing piece of history. Thanks for the upload.

[@aPonderousChain]

Incredible game, and magnificent artists and craftsmen at work.

[@RheingoldxxL]

... thank You so much for the remastering - I still love this Making Of 🙂

[@vintagemusic338]

Why cant these guys come together and make another sequel with todays technology. Thats would be aweasome!

[@oresteszoupanos]

Gorgeous remaster! I may have to go replay Riven soon...

[@Rhodochrone]

Might be worth waiting for Cyan's in-progress remake.

[@sharonguerrette7829]

Just fascinating to see all this come together, art, tech, storyline and actors. My all time favorite game!

[@Nettai]

I adore Myst and the world surrounding it. Thanks for uploading this!

[@zesty2023]

Its motivating to see that so many cool things even so far removed from when they came out are still being found and uploaded to this day. Watched the hell out of this on the DVD version, seeing this is like being a 60yr old guy who's suddenly gotten eyeglasses for the first time and seeing things in 20/20 quality. Thanks for the upload!

[@benisrood]

Had this game as a kid when it came out. Never got to see the majority of what’s shown in this video! Pretty sure I had to go online (back in the dark ages) to figure out (cheat) how to solve Myst. Beautifully made.

[@HyggeState]

Video games are so cool.

[@Azel954]

riven is an incredible work. every aspect of the game feels constructed with purpose and spirit. it's rare that i find another game that can match its design langauge. and all of it told with barely any words. thank you for preserving game history.

[@SamSamShine]

This is how you remaster a video: keeping the original 60/50fps and upscaling it to 4k without artificial sharpening.

[@zackeryparkerson]

This is amazing. Thank you.

[@marcobucci]

Love the restoration. Also, best game ever.

[@christopherfrost]

Thank you so much for uploading!

[@rogerstadelmann4286]

A Masterpiece !... ❤

[@jfjfjf]

Riven is amazing thank you for sharing

[@fastmclaren71]

Love Obduction.

[@ShannonCarey0x53]

You earned a new donor!

[@kylehc15]

imagine if they made riven today it be way different and so many ideas they could do would proble get used

[@Prisoner416]

Can I download the video for archival?

[@rambunctiousmedia3350]

5:03 The Riven remake is screwed if Cyan somehow doesn't do that tree justice. It was on the front of the freakin' box when my family and I bought the original game!

[@iLikeTheUDK]

The CGI clearly looks very dated nowadays but it's still mindblowing. It looks and feels so rich Imagine how it'd look nowadays though with better shaders that have the grazing angle thing built in and with a better BRDF for the specular, and there's global illumination and everything has both diffuse and specular reflections of everything else and you won't need this fake ambient lighting filling in the shadows, etc

[@ShannonCarey0x53]

There's a remake (with some additions, i understand) coming this year :)

[@this_epic_name]

@@ShannonCarey0x53 Yeah, and I think a Cyan-made sequel (not the garbage that was III and IV) would be good too. Outsourcing III and IV was really bad for the brand.